Pop Up Stores, Street Food, Chill spots and more at GSS Orchard Road!

It’s that time of the year again. Just when you thought you shopped enough. Orchard Road just got more interesting this year with their Great Singapore Street Pop Up!

From the 21st to the 30th of June (11 am to 10 pm), there will be tons of new and exciting editions from 43 retail and F&B outlets. From cult jeans and active sportswear, fashion apparel and accessories, furniture and home furnishings, jewellery and vintage collectables, cosmetics, arts and crafts, lifestyle speciality gifts to gourmet burgers, lala clams, craft beers, salted egg rostis, Ah Hoi’s famed Chilli Crab. Talk about being spoilt for choices.

After all of that, check out the various pop-up installations and chill out at the air sofa and picnic benches at Grange Road Carpark. There will be performances by Jazz bands and screenings of both local and foreign full-length films along with short films produced by students from Temasek Polytechnic!

Also, if you spend a minimum of $100 (same-day combined receipts), you can redeem a GoSpree tote bag at any pop-up store.

8 New Year’s Eve Celebrations to end 2018 in Singapore

It’s finally time, 2018 is coming to a close. No current plans to end the year? We got you covered!

Before we bring in the “New Year, New Me” memes and start coming up New Year Resolutions that we “commit” to, here are a few places to celebrate and spend the last moments of 2018 with your beaus.

To new beginnings!

1. Block Party Countdown 2018 at Clarke Quay

Photo Credits: CapitaLand Malls

Unleash your inner child in this year’s epic Block Party Countdown at Clarke Quay’s Fountain Square! The block party theme, “PLAY”, will feature vibrant coloured interlocking play blocks, specially constructed three-dimensional structures, and a pedal-powered illuminating LED wall, all designed to bring a fun and imaginative playground element to the party.

Get your Instagram-worthy photo moments and interact with dancing green toy soldiers and unicorn mascots that will be roaming the area.

Hosts, DJs Gerald Koh and Kimberly Wang from 987FM, will kick the party into gear high with music from award-winning local bands, Shirlyn and The UnXpected, and entertainment from plenty of fun stage games prepared.

After the countdown, remember to not leave as the party continues all around the various clubs and bars at Clarke Quay!

There will be also a collaboration between Mediacorp celebrities, Pierre Png, Romeo Tan, Carrie Wong, Sheila Sim and Joel Choo, and ten of Singapore’s top fashion models, to put up a special item with homegrown singer Aisyah Aziz, to showcase some of the works done by local designers.

And of course, it isn’t a New Year’s celebration without the iconic mass display of fireworks! An explosion of technicolour fireworks will light up Singapore’s beautiful skyline at the stroke of midnight.

If fireworks are the only thing that sparks your interest in New Year celebrations, you won’t want to miss the multi-sensory technicolour fireworks and light show at The Float at Marina Bay. Be the first in Singapore to experience the futuristic magic of fireworks as Star Island Singapore will debut for the first time outside of Japan.

It is a one of a kind fireworks musical with a new action-packed universe of world-class fireworks, 3D surround sound, synchronised light displays and performances.

Individual LED bands will be given so attendees can fully immerse themselves in the multi-sensory show.

Pre-show activities such as the Food Truck Fest with various food and delights and a bazaar selling quirky items will also be featured.

Music lovers, this is your chance! Esplanade is hosting six hours’ worth of dynamic music at the Esplanade Outdoor Theatre to usher in the new year. The celebration will be carried by celebrity host, Timothy Nga.

Be entertained all night long with performances by Nick Zavior, Amni Musfirah & The Hustlers, NovoBloco and Bloco Singapura. Spend the last moments of 2018 moving to the grooves and dancing to the beats!

Newly-opened early this year, Heartbeat@Bedok is hosting its first countdown party.

Catch a performance by TMD (Too Much Drama), a multi-lingual band from Singapore and put your dancing to good use and help break the record of the “Largest Silent Disco” in the Singapore Book of Records, by dancing non-stop for 5 minutes.

Participants are provided with a wireless noise cancelling headphone and can choose between channels of disco, house and rock. What are you waiting for? Every thing is provided, you just have to show up and dance into the new year!

Spend the night riding the waves at Wave House Sentosa’s countdown party!

Join the exhilarating flowboarding experience by riding the FlowRider and the FlowBarrel. It is an endlessly fun ride with the waves creating a safe, non-curling, endless sheet of water flowing over a composite vinyl surface, much like a trampoline. For a more sporty new year’s celebration, experiment and perform tricks by carving up and down the surface, just like you would in other board sports!

Apart from the waves, there will be comfortable sofa seating where you can chill and count the hours away to 2019. Choose from a variety of extravagant food and drinks from the restaurant and bar whilst listening to the feel-good music.

C3 AFA 2018: A taste of Akihabara in Singapore

Since the days of Naruto in 480p to present day Boruto in HD, Anime Festival Asia (AFA) has been a staple for local fans of anime and Japanese pop culture. The annual affair has grown tremendously since it first reached our shores back in 2008, solidifying its status as a pilgrimage of sorts, akin to the wonders of Akihabara.

Back for its tenth anniversary, AFA 2018 proved to be the best its ever been with performances from a star-studded lineup at the I Love Anisong concert series, renown cosplayers and more exclusive merchandise than ever before. Didn’t get to attend? Fret not, here’s everything you missed from the greatest anime exhibition of the year.

Walk in and you’ll be greeted by this massive Gundam model. I don’t know about you but the sooner we get actual functional Gundams the better!

Fans of Gunpla were also in for a treat with this huge selection. There’s even more selections at the back!

Of course, AFA wouldn’t be complete without the game taking Japan (and frankly, the world) by storm. Whether you love or hate the Gacha mechanics of the game, it’s hard to argue with Fate Grand Order’s (FGO)’s success. Staying true to the game mechanics, at the center of the exhibition was a summoning circle where fans could place their phones to summon in-game characters.

Gaming was also a huge part of AFA this year. Apart from FGO, Honkai Impact also featured a booth where players could compete in time trials. Scattered around the exhibition were also other games such as Taiko Drum Master, Touhou and even PUBG.